Making tube sockets at home - sort of.

[mjrippe]

In case anyone has NOT heard of 3D printing, you can use it to make almost any sort of plastic part.  One at a time, rather slowly.  But for those unobtainable bits, it is perfect.  Some clever fellow has started making their own tube sockets.  Kinda pointless for 7 pin miniatures, but would be nice for EZ10A sockets!  Read about it here:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/neonixie-l

Cheers,
Mike

[Quixotic Nixotic]

On 15 Jan 2013, at 15:50, mjrippe wrote:

In case anyone has NOT heard of 3D printing, you can use it to make almost any sort of plastic part.  One at a time, rather slowly.  But for those unobtainable bits, it is perfect.  Some clever fellow has started making their own tube sockets.  Kinda pointless for 7 pin miniatures, but would be nice for EZ10A sockets!  Read about it here:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/neonixie-l

It seems a bit over time-consuming to me.

I've made great IN 18 sockets by using the plastic middle of an old adhesive roll glued around some pins to suit my pin receptacles. Melt some polymorph in a cup of hot water from the kettle and squidge it into the roll around the pins. When set, in about a minute, pull the pins out and put your receptacles in - I used crimp ones from a D socket.

If you need a mounting flange, that is easy too, just melt some more polymorph, maybe roll it out flat, reheat one edge a bit and stick it to the sides of your new socket. Trim to shape with an X-Acto knife or scalpel. Polymorph will drill quite well.

John S

[Tidak Ada]

Sounds nice BUT.... just for a hydrogen filled EZ10A/B  it is essential the pins undergo as less as possible stress by mounting the pins LOOSLY and movable in the insulator.

I think a sandwich construction, like at those old pertinax sockets, will fulfil more to that need.

Making a socket, either from thick pertinax or an other thermo hardened material (Bakelite or an phenolic resin) by use of a CNC driven tool will make a perfect socket it you can find contacts that have enough difference in diameter (a collar) to get hold.

Who can help machining the parts ???

 

eric

---

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Quixotic Nixotic
Sent: dinsdag 15 januari 2013 17:19
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Making tube sockets at home - sort of.

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[Tony Adams]

I can machine phenolic laminate but finding time to is the problem... if it's only a small quantity I could probably do it if you can find suitable pins.

http://www.lasermad.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DSCF5038-300x225.jpg

Tony.

On Tuesday, 15 January 2013 16:58:35 UTC, Tidak Ada wrote:

Sounds nice BUT.... just for a hydrogen filled EZ10A/B  it is essential the pins undergo as less as possible stress by mounting the pins LOOSLY and movable in the insulator.

I think a sandwich construction, like at those old pertinax sockets, will fulfil more to that need.

Making a socket, either from thick pertinax or an other thermo hardened material (Bakelite or an phenolic resin) by use of a CNC driven tool will make a perfect socket it you can find contacts that have enough difference in diameter (a collar) to get hold.

Who can help machining the parts ???

 

eric

---

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Quixotic Nixotic
Sent: dinsdag 15 januari 2013 17:19
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Making tube sockets at home - sort of.

On 15 Jan 2013, at 15:50, mjrippe wrote:

In case anyone has NOT heard of 3D printing, you can use it to make almost any sort of plastic part.  One at a time, rather slowly.  But for those unobtainable bits, it is perfect.  Some clever fellow has started making their own tube sockets.  Kinda pointless for 7 pin miniatures, but would be nice for EZ10A sockets!  Read about it here:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/neonixie-l

It seems a bit over time-consuming to me.

I've made great IN 18 sockets by using the plastic middle of an old adhesive roll glued around some pins to suit my pin receptacles. Melt some polymorph in a cup of hot water from the kettle and squidge it into the roll around the pins. When set, in about a minute, pull the pins out and put your receptacles in - I used crimp ones from a D socket.

If you need a mounting flange, that is easy too, just melt some more polymorph, maybe roll it out flat, reheat one edge a bit and stick it to the sides of your new socket. Trim to shape with an X-Acto knife or scalpel. Polymorph will drill quite well.

John S

[David Forbes]

On 1/15/13 9:58 AM, Tidak Ada wrote:
> Sounds nice BUT.... just for a hydrogen filled EZ10A/B it is essential
> the pins undergo as less as possible stress by mounting the pins LOOSLY
> and movable in the insulator.
> I think a sandwich construction, like at those old pertinax sockets,
> will fulfil more to that need.
> Making a socket, either from thick pertinax or an other thermo hardened
> material (Bakelite or an phenolic resin) by use of a CNC driven tool
> will make a perfect socket it you can find contacts that have enough
> difference in diameter (a collar) to get hold.
> Who can help machining the parts ???
> eric

Here's where to get the contact pins:

You could buy a bunch of old low-cost surplus wafer sockets whose
contacts fit the type of pin you are working with (either the fat octal
tube pins or the thin miniature tube pins), drill out the rivets, and
remove the contacts which are sandwiched between the two wafers. Then
use the contacts in your own laser-cut wafers to fit your special tubes.

--
David Forbes, Tucson AZ

[Tidak Ada]

Unfortunately the socket pins of B9A and B7A sockets are too wide for use
with the 10 pins (11 spaces) in the outer circle of a EZ10A/B.
An alternative are pins of D type connectors, however the flange is quite
thin, what urges for working at very narrow tolerances.
Anyhow I have here a lot of nice bushings that might be useful.
I need three sockets.
I will keep your offer in mind.

Thanks,

eric

-----Original Message-----
From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of David Forbes
Sent: dinsdag 15 januari 2013 18:15
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Making tube sockets at home - sort of.

[vfdclock]

I think by using wood or somestuf like this and with a cnc machine to drill the holes and sharps,and we'll get a source model,and for more we can just using AB-water?epoxy? some GK stuff to make more case.

vfd/nixie/oled EE DIY
http://vfdclock.jimdo.com

在 2013年1月15日星期二UTC+8下午11时50分58秒，mjrippe写道：

[Dekatron42]

There is not much difference in the force and stress produced by the original sockets for the EZ10A/B compared to if you use DSUB crimp (or solder) sockets soldered to a piece of PCB. If you just make sure that you solder the crimp sockets so they flex open in the direction of the centre of the socket, the slit should bee facing along the circle circumference, that way they will still make good contact on all pins. You can also push the crimp sockets onto the EZ10A/B pins before you solder them to the PCB, that way you will have them in the spot where they make the least strain on the pins (this will vary a little bit with each EZ10A/B unless you have a pin straighetener to use). I have compared the original sockets, the ZB13 / TSM-13P, to a few handbuilt sockets that I made a long time ago and I found no big difference. It is quite easy to get problems with the original sockets since the pins snag on the ceramic so you'll have to be careful when pushing down the EZ10A/B even in those sockets.

 

/Martin

[Tidak Ada]

It is not the stress during insertion/extraction of the tube, but due to temperature differences. The bottom of the tube expands or shrinks, warned me our glass technician. Also spot heating during soldering can be  disastrous.

Consider the hydrogen filling of the tube. It even diffuses trough the glass ! Every extra possibility of micro leakage should be avoided to keep a reasonable life span of the tube.

 

eric

---

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Dekatron42
Sent: donderdag 17 januari 2013 15:50

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/neonixie-l/-/yHdkp8gqBV0J.

[Dekatron42]

If you solder the pins like I wrote you will get minimum stress even during use, not only during insertion and you can easily protect the pin on the EZ10B from the heat if you put a crocodile clamp on the pin you solder as that works as a heat sink, you can also use a fan to blow on the pin while soldering. Putting a crocodile clamp on the part you are soldering to protect it from the heat is a trick usually used to solder heat sensitive components or on wires with a plastic cover which tends to shrink away from heat.

 

In one old brochure from Elesta they mentioned that they used a special type of glass both in the envelope of the dekatron and in the base/pin seals to minimise gas leakage, that is probably the reason why their EZ10B's work so well after all these years compared to the Z505S and similar types.

 

I've never had a EZ10B (nor the EZ10A) break in any of the sockets I built nor in the original sockets even though the insertion force has been quite hight on the original sockets. I've bought a lot of used EZ10B's on ebay with bent pins that I have had to straighen before I could use them in a socket, and these too work well.

 

The EZ10A/B seems to have been built a bit more durable than the competing dekatrons, but you should of course be careful when inserting them anyway.

 

Another way of making a socket for these is to drill two pieces of FR4 (without copper), used as top and bottom cover, with holes just large enough for the crimp pins to pass through but not for the "bump" you find on the crimp pin. Then you drill a third FR4, used as the centre piece, with a hole large enough for the "bump" and thick enough for the "bump" to be completely covered. Then you put the pins in the bottom piece, put the centre piece on and then the top piece. You'll have to have holes at either side for either a rivet or screws to keep them together. This way you have a socket with freely moving pins and you wont have to worry about the forces on the pins. The "bump" is there to keep the pin in the D-SUB contact so it doesn't slide out. This is a more complicated socket and I only made one before making the solder type, it took to much time to make at home. Now with low prices on PCB's professionally manufactured you could easily make these three pieces for a very low cost and with the diameter of the holes correct for the crimp pins, and with correct thickness of each PCB piece.

 

/Martin

[Tidak Ada]

The latter is exactly what I suggest and if you may utilize a CNC (facility) it may be really easy and professional. Only the colour of print material is not very esthetical you work with old technology. Therefore I should prefer pertinax or an other phenolic resin or Bakelite.

 

Don't forget the many problems with tubes in PCB (TV-Sets !!) are due to rigidity of the contacts in the sockets that are soldered directly in the print. OK a thermionic tube will get hotter as an EZ10A/B but also that tube will raise in temperature. That's the reason I prefer tubes in socket in an metal chassis.

You could use wire wrap pins from a D-sub connector; the flexibility of the pins over the full length will compensate the mechanical stress if you solder them with only the tips in the board. But a tube on stilts is not nice to look at.

Last but not least the elongation of the length of wiring it results to is not advisable for a EZ10A/B at 1 MHz.

 

eric

---

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Dekatron42

Sent: vrijdag 18 januari 2013 15:57
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Making tube sockets at home - sort of.

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